The Urban Institute Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers Mark A. Hager Jeffrey L. Brudney June 2004 Volunteer Management Capacity Study Series 1 Volunteer Management Capacity in America’s Charities and Congregations The Urban Institute February 2004 2 Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers The Urban Institute June 2004 3 Volunteer Management in America’s Religious Organizations Corporation for National and Community Service June 2004 Copyright © 2004. The Urban Institute. All rights reserved. Conclusions or opinions expressed in Institute publications are those of the authors and do not necessar- ily reflect the views of staff members, officers or trustees of the Institute, advisory groups, or any organizations that provide financial support. Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers 1 This report is the second in a series of briefs reporting on findings from a 2003 survey of volunteer management capacity among charities and congregations. The find- ings in this report are based on conversations with a systematic sample of charities about their practices, challenges, and aspirations for their volunteer programs. We focus on charities’ adoption of nine recommended practices for volunteer management. Further, we explore the relationship between adoption of these practices, other organizational characteristics, and the retention of volunteers. The practices under study are supervision and communication with volunteers, liability coverage for vol- unteers, screening and matching volunteers to jobs, regular collection of information on volunteer involvement, writ- ten policies and job descriptions for volunteers, recogni- tion activities, annual measurement of volunteer impact, training and professional development for volunteers, and training for paid staff in working with volunteers. The findings provide new insight into volunteer management capacity and retention: Adoption of Volunteer Management Practices Not Widespread. Of the nine practices, only regular supervision and communication with volunteers has been adopted to a large degree by a majority of charities. We were surprised to learn, for example, that only one-third of charities have adopted to a large degree the practice of publicly recognizing the work of their volunteers. Over 60 percent have adopted each of the practices to at least some degree, however. This finding suggests that the practices for volunteer management are known, if not always fully implemented, in America’s charities. Likelihood of Adoption Depends on Characteristics of the Charity. The likelihood that a charity adopts a particular management practice depends on its specific needs and characteristics, such as its size, level of volun- teer involvement, predominant role for volunteers, and industry. For example, charities that emphasize episodic volunteer use adopt different management practices than Volunteer Management Practices and the Retention of Volunteers charities that emphasize more sustained use of volunteers. Charities operating in the health field have generally adopted more of the practices as well. Larger charities are more likely to have adopted most, but not all, of the management practices under study. Some Practices Tied to Greater Retention of Vo lunteers, Some Not. Charities interested in increasing retention of volunteers should invest in recognizing volunteers, providing training and professional develop- ment for them, and screening volunteers and matching them to organizational tasks. These practices all center on enriching the volunteer experience. Management practices that focus more on the needs of the organiza- tion, such as documentation of volunteer numbers and hours, are unrelated to retention of volunteers, even though they help the program to realize other benefits. Charities Can Do Others Things as Well to Maximize Volunteer Retention. Volunteer management practices are only part of the picture. In addition to adopting certain management practices, charities can provide a culture that is welcoming to volunteers, allocate sufficient resources to support them, and enlist volunteers in recruiting other volunteers. All of these practices help charities to achieve higher rates of retention. The research shows that adoption of volunteer management practices is important to the operations of most charities. By investing in these practices and by supporting volunteer involvement in other ways, charities enhance their volunteer management capacity and their ability to retain volunteers. Executive Summary “Charities interested in increasing retention of volunteers should invest in recognizing volunteers, providing training and professional development for them, and screening volunteers and matching them to organizational tasks.” 2 Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers In 2003, with the backing of the UPS Foundation, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the USA Freedom Corps, the Urban Institute undertook the first national study of volunteer management capac- ity. One purpose of the study was to document the extent to which charities use various practices in managing volunteers. The field of volunteer administration has long promoted a range of best practices, including super- vision, data collection, recognition, and training. 1 How- ever, until we undertook systematic research, we did not know the extent to which these practices have taken root in the nonprofit sector or their influence on retaining volunteers. We drew a sample of nearly 3,000 charities that had filed Form 990 with the IRS in 2000, which excludes charities with less than $25,000 in annual gross receipts. We con- ducted telephone interviews with volunteer administra- tors or executive managers in most of these charities, asking them about their volunteer activities and manage- ment practices, and the challenges and benefits that vol- unteers bring to their operations. We learned that four out of five charities use volunteers in their activities, either in service to others or in helping to run the organization. The results we present are based on those charities that engage volunteers; we exclude charities that do not use volunteers. Adoption of Volunteer Management Practices by Charities Introduction: What Management Practices Have Charities Adopted? What Practices or Characteristics Explain Volunteer Retention? Why focus on volunteer management? The prevailing wisdom is that unless organizations pay attention to issues of volunteer management, they will not do a good job of recruiting, satisfying, and retaining volunteers. The importance is underscored by the findings of a study commissioned by the UPS Foundation in 1998. 2 That study revealed that two-fifths of volunteers have stopped volunteering for an organization at some time because of one or more poor volunteer management practices. Reasons included the organization not making good use of a volunteer’s time or good use of their talents, or that volunteer tasks were not clearly defined. The study warned, “Poor volunteer management practices result in more lost volunteers than people losing interest because of changing personal or family needs.” Administrators of volunteer programs are not without tools to recruit and retain volunteers. As volunteer administration has become more professionalized, public and nonprofit leaders, agency managers, and field experts have turned their attention to improving the capacity of host organizations to accommodate volunteers. In a report prepared in cooperation with the Points of Light Foundation and the Association for Volunteer Administration, the UPS Foundation advocated adoption of 23 volunteer management practices. 3 In general, the practices center on providing funding to support volunteer involvement, especially for a desig- nated leader or manager to oversee volunteers, and “One purpose of the study was to document the extent to which charities use various practices in managing volunteers. Until we undertook systematic research, we did not know the extent to which these practices have taken root in the nonprofit sector.” “We learned that four out of five charities use volunteers in their activities, either in service to others or in helping to run the organization.” Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers 3 having a set of appropriate practices and procedures to administer the volunteer program. Other studies echo these views on effective means for supporting and retaining volunteers. Grossman and Furano identify three elements as crucial to the success of any volunteer program: screening potential volunteers to ensure appropriate entry and placement in the organi- zation; orientation and training to provide volunteers with the skills and outlook needed; and management and ongoing support of volunteers by paid staff to ensure that volunteer time is not wasted. 4 They conclude, “No matter how well intentioned volunteers are, unless there is an infrastructure in place to support and direct their efforts, they will remain ineffective at best or, worse, become disenchanted and withdraw, potentially damaging recipi- ents of services in the process.” A research report on volunteer service and community engagement in selected state agencies and organizations in Texas focuses on many of these same practices and procedures, including screening of volunteers and match- ing them to positions, training and orientation, manage- ment and communication, and recognition and evaluation. 5 In another study, paid staff time allocated to the volunteer program, as well as an array of recom- mended practices for volunteer management, were related statistically to the benefits these programs real- ized from volunteer involvement. 6 The accumulating evidence suggests that volunteer management capacity is a function of both staff support of volunteering and adoption of administrative practices necessary for the management of volunteers. The current trend in the charitable sector is for organiza- tions to adopt the efficiencies of management that have been developed in the business sector. Although many charities resist the culture of becoming more busi- nesslike, funders and board members often demand that charities adopt modern management methods. As evidenced by the number of charities that are adopting volunteer management practices at least to some degree, the professionalization of volunteer management is clearly underway. The costs, benefits, and consequences of adoption of volunteer management practices should be a subject for managers and policymakers alike. The next five pages document the degree of adoption of volunteer management practices by charities with differ- ent characteristics. Following that, we confront the issue of retention of volunteers. Although observers have been quick to advocate the adoption of volunteer management practices, little research to date has examined the rela- tionship between these practices and the retention of volunteers. In this report, we present an analysis of the relationship between volunteer management capacity and retention. 1 See, for example, Susan Ellis (1996) From the Top Down: The Executive Role in Volunteer Program Success, and Steve McCurley and Rick Lynch (1996) Volunteer Management: Mobilizing all the Resources in the Com- munity. 2 UPS Foundation (1998) Managing Volunteers: A Report from United Parcel Service. Available at http://www.community.ups.com. 3 UPS Foundation (2002) A Guide To Investing In Volunteer Resources Management: Improve Your Philanthropic Portfolio. Available at http://www.community.ups.com. 4 Jean Baldwin Grossman and Kathryn Furano (2002) Making the Most of Volunteers. Public/Private Ventures. Available at http://www.ppv.org. 5 Sarah Jane Rehnborg, Catherine K. Fallon, and Benjamin J. Hinerfeld (2002) Investing in Volunteerism: The Impact of Service Initiatives in Selected Texas State Agencies. Austin, TX: LBJ School of Public Affairs. 6 Jeffrey L. Brudney (1999) “The Effective Use of Volunteers: Best Practices for the Public Sector.” Law and Contemporary Problems. “Volunteer management capacity is a function of two things. One is staff support. The other is the adoption of relevant administrative practices necessary for the effective management of volunteers.” 4 Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers The nine management practices listed in Figure 1 are the ones that we presented to survey respondents who told us they involve volunteers in their operations. We asked them if they have adopted each practice to a large degree, to some degree, or not at all. The bars indicate the per- centage of charities that say they have adopted to a large or some degree. The most striking finding is that only one practice, regular supervision and communication with volunteers, has been adopted to a large degree by more than half of charities. Large degree adoption of training for either volunteers or for paid staff in working with volunteers is particularly rare; these practices are more likely to have been adopted only to some degree, if at all. The likelihood that a charity adopts a particular manage- ment practice depends on its specific needs and charac- teristics. Not all practices can or should be adopted by all charities. While the practice of screening volunteers and matching them with appropriate tasks is important when volunteers are mentoring or tutoring children, such screening and matching may be unnecessary when a neighborhood association mobilizes residents to clean up a local park. Training paid staff in how to work effec- tively with volunteers may be a fruitful practice for many organizations, but it is not relevant to those charities that have no paid staff. The critical question is whether chari- ties that should be adopting a particular practice have the resources and other institutional support necessary to put the practice in place. The following four pages document how adoption of these nine practices vary by important organizational characteristics, such as the size of the organization or the way they use volunteers. These differences provide some clues into which conditions make certain practices partic- ularly relevant, and suggest other kinds of circumstances that inhibit charities from adopting these practices. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Training for paid staff in working with volunteers Training and professional development opportunities for volunteers Annual measurement of the impacts of volunteers Recognition activities, such as award ceremonies, for volunteers Written policies and job descriptions for volunteer involvement Screening procedures to identify suitable volunteers Regular collection of information on volunteer numbers and hours Liability coverage or insurance protection for volunteers Regular supervision and communication with volunteers 67% 46% 30% 26% 45% 45% 32% 42% 44% 35% 37% 47% 30% 32% 25% 19% 49% 46% Figure 1: Management Practices that Charities Say They Practice to a Large Degree or to Some Degree ■ Adopted to large degree ■ Adopted to some degree Volunteer Management Practices Key Finding: Charities Are Receptive to Best Practices in Volunteer Management, but Commonly Adopt Them Only to Some Degree Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers 5 Management Practices and Size of the Charity Key Finding: Adoption Most Likely among Largest Charities Figure 2 illustrates the average level of adoption of manage- ment practices by charities of different sizes. For each prac- tice, we assign a value of 0 if a particular charity has not adopted the practice, a value of 1 if the charity has adopted the practice to some degree, and a value of 2 if the charity has adopted the practice to a large degree. We then calculate the average for all of the charities in a particular group. As we might expect, the size of a charity matters in whether most practices have been adopted or not. The largest charities (those with over $5 million in annual expenditures, denoted ▲) consistently fall furthest to the right on the scale, indicating highest average levels of adoption. In contrast, the smallest charities (those with less than $100,000 in annual expenditures, denoted ◆) tend to fall furthest to the left, indicating lowest levels of adoption. The bunching of symbols indicate little or no difference between charities of different size classes, while greater spreads indicate greater differences. For example, liabil- ity coverage or insurance protection for volunteers is about equally likely for organizations in the top two size classes, but both are substantially more likely than the smallest charities to have adopted this practice. On the other hand, the rare practice of training paid staff in working with volunteers is not influenced by organiza- tion size. That is, despite our expectation that this prac- tice would be practiced more often by larger charities than by smaller ones, we observe no differences across size classes. 7 All other management practices display differences in adoption level across categories of organi- zation size. Even the apparent bunching of symbols on “regular supervision and communication with volun- teers” represents a difference between the smallest and largest charities. This practice is by far the most com- monly adopted practice among small charities, but the largest charities are still more likely to have adopted it. Figure 2. Average Level of Adoption of Volunteer Management Practices, by Size of Charity no adoption small degree adoption large degree adoption less than 100,000 $100,000–$500,000 $500,000–$1 million $1 million–$5 million more than $5 million Training for paid staff in working with volunteers Training and professional development opportunities for volunteers Annual measurement of the impacts of volunteers Recognition activities, such as award ceremonies, for volunteers Written policies and job descriptions for volunteer involvement Screening procedures to identify suitable volunteers Regular collection of information on volunteer numbers and hours Liability coverage or insurance protection for volunteers Regular supervision and communication with volunteers 7 Claims about the differences or similarities between organizations with different characteristics are based on an analysis of variance, a statistical test that indicates whether the observed differences are large enough to be considered greater than chance (p < 0.05). We divided charities into size groups depending on how much total money they say they spent in a year. This figure is taken from Forms 990 reported to the IRS in 2000 by charities in the study. 6 Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers We divided charities into four groups based on their scope of volunteer use. Our groups are based on both the numbers of volunteers that charities engaged in the past year, as well as the number of hours that volunteers collectively worked in a typical week. If a charity engaged at least 50 volunteers over the course of the year, we defined them as having “many volunteers”; otherwise, we defined them as having “few volunteers.” If volunteers collectively worked at least 50 hours in a typical week, we defined a charity as representing “many hours”; otherwise we considered them to represent “few hours.” The cross-classification results in four categories of char- ities. The group with “few volunteers, few hours” is the largest group, and we expect that they are least likely to have adopted most volunteer management practices. “Many volunteers, few hours” includes those charities that engage many volunteers for predominantly short- term or episodic assignments; in contrast, “few volun- teers, many hours” includes those charities that use volunteers in more sustained ways. “Many volunteers, many hours” is the smallest group, but represents those charities with the largest scope of volunteer involvement. Figure 3 shows how adoption of management practices varies across scope of volunteer use. As expected, charities with large scope of volunteer involvement are significantly more likely to have adopted the various practices when compared to charities that engage comparatively fewer volunteers for fewer hours. Comparisons of the two middle categories show that charities that use episodic volunteers (“many volunteers, few hours”) have the edge in recognition activities, collection of information on volunteer numbers and hours, and measuring the impacts of volunteer activities. In contrast, charities with more sustained use of fewer volunteers (“few volunteers, many hours”) are more likely to have liability coverage or insurance protection, training and professional development for volunteers, screening and matching procedures, and regular super- vision and communication. These practices indicate a greater investment in volunteers. Figure 3. Average Level of Adoption of Volunteer Management Practices, by Scope of Volunteer Use no adoption small degree adoption large degree adoption few volunteers, few hours few volunteers, many hours many volunteers, few hours many volunteers, many hours Training for paid staff in working with volunteers Training and professional development opportunities for volunteers Annual measurement of the impacts of volunteers Recognition activities, such as award ceremonies, for volunteers Written policies and job descriptions for volunteer involvement Screening procedures to identify suitable volunteers Regular collection of information on volunteer numbers and hours Liability coverage or insurance protection for volunteers Regular supervision and communication with volunteers Management Practices and Scope of Volunteer Use Key Finding: Adoption of Different Management Practices Depends on How Volunteers Are Used Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers 7 Management Practices and Primary Use of Volunteers Key Finding: Charities that Primarily Use Volunteers in Direct Service Roles Are More Likely to Have Adopted Most Practices The work that volunteers do also influences adoption of management practices. We asked survey respondents to describe the main role that volunteers perform, the one to which the organization devotes the most time, money, and other resources. Based on these descriptions, we organized charities into four categories based on their primary use of volunteers. Most charities use volunteers primarily in direct service activities, such as mentoring or tutoring. Some use volunteers in carrying out services, but not in ways that usually bring them into contact with others; we describe these activities as “indirect service.” The other two cate- gories include volunteers who are primarily working to make the charity run rather than providing services. One is an internal administrative role, including such activities as filing, copying, or answering phones. The other is an external administrative role, including such activities as fundraising, lobbying, or public relations. Charities that primarily use volunteers in direct service roles are furthest to the right on all nine management practice scales, indicating that they are far more likely to have adopted each practice. The result makes sense because charities that use volunteers for direct client contact must be more careful about how these services are handled. Failure to follow accepted practices for volunteer management may jeopardize service quality, the reputation of the organization, or the quality of the volunteer experience. In contrast, the average adoption scores for charities that use volunteers primarily in indirect service, internal administration, or external administration tend to group together, indicating that these uses of volunteers do not distinguish adopters from non-adopters. To the extent that there are differences, charities that involve volun- teers primarily in internal administration tend to be second-most likely to adopt most practices. However, these charities are least likely to evaluate the impacts of their volunteers, not surprising given that their volunteer tasks are primarily administrative rather than service-oriented. Figure 4. Average Level of Adoption of Volunteer Management Practices, by Primary Use of Volunteers no adoption small degree adoption large degree adoption direct service indirect service internal administration external administration Training for paid staff in working with volunteers Training and professional development opportunities for volunteers Annual measurement of the impacts of volunteers Recognition activities, such as award ceremonies, for volunteers Written policies and job descriptions for volunteer involvement Screening procedures to identify suitable volunteers Regular collection of information on volunteer numbers and hours Liability coverage or insurance protection for volunteers Regular supervision and communication with volunteers 8 Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers Management Practices and Subsector Key Finding: Health Charities Are Most Active in Adoption of Volunteer Management Practices The charities in this study represent the broad array of nonprofit organizations in the United States. Charities are involved in our daily lives in a rich variety of ways, and their missions touch on almost all issues of public inter- est. The industry, or subsector, in which a charity works might be related to how it engages volunteers, or which practices it has adopted in managing its volunteers. We placed our study organizations into categories based on their primary purpose. Three-fourths of them could be placed in one of four major categories: human services; education; health; or arts, culture, and humanities (Figure 5). The remaining one-fourth consists of either charities that support the work of other charities, or charities that operate in smaller subsectors (such as environmental or animal related). The figure below is based only on the three-fourths that we classified into the major groups indicated. Charities operating in the health subsector are more likely to have adopted most practices. On average, health charities are more likely to have liability coverage or insurance protection for volunteers, hold recognition activities for volunteers, and to screen and match volun- teers to appropriate assignments. This likely reflects the greater number of resources, the higher level of profes- sionalization, and (in some cases) the greater urgency of volunteer performance in the health field. Human service charities rival health charities on adoption of most items, but charities operating in the education and arts fields tend to lag on most practices. Charities operating in the education and arts fields are substantially less likely to have liability coverage, to regularly collect information on volunteer numbers and hours, to measure the impacts of volunteers, or to screen and match volunteers to assignments. Arts organizations are notably less likely to hold award or other recognition activities for their volunteers. The only practice that does not vary by subsector is the popular practice of supervision and communication with volunteers, practiced equally by human service, education, health, and arts organizations. Figure 5. Average Level of Adoption of Volunteer Management Practices, by Subsector no adoption small degree adoption large degree adoption human services education health arts, culture, and humanities Training for paid staff in working with volunteers Training and professional development opportunities for volunteers Annual measurement of the impacts of volunteers Recognition activities, such as award ceremonies, for volunteers Written policies and job descriptions for volunteer involvement Screening procedures to identify suitable volunteers Regular collection of information on volunteer numbers and hours Liability coverage or insurance protection for volunteers Regular supervision and communication with volunteers [...]... implementing prac- “Some volunteer management practices are important to the operations of charities and some are important for providing good experiences for volunteers The ones that focus on volunteers are the ones that keep volunteers interested and involved ” 12 Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers tices designed to make sure that they involve volunteers wisely and well, and commit sufficient... adoption of the management practices under study, the roles that volunteers play in the organization and tradeoffs between satisfying organizational and volunteer needs are also important in understanding which charities adopt which practices Scope and Nature of Volunteer Use Influences Management Choices Different volunteer management practices have different underlying purposes While all volunteers. .. sufficient numbers of volunteers, recruiting volunteers with the right skills or expertise, or recruiting volunteers during the workday; low values indicate few reported recruiting problems Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers 11 Concluding Observations Implications for Practice Charities adopt volunteer management practices for reasons that go beyond the question of whether they... toward volunteer involvement are less able to retain volunteers Value that Volunteers Bring to Charities 10 The value of volunteer participation to the charity affects retention Charities that use volunteers to recruit other Figure 6 The Influence of Management, Investments, Volunteer Value, and Other Organizational Characteristics on Retention of Volunteers Negative influences Positive influences Management. .. percentage of volunteers under age 24 –.06 –.36 ratio: number of staff/number of volunteers recruitment problems index –.05 multiple regression, model adjusted R2 = 0.247; magnitudes of bars are standardized betas for variables statistically significant at p 0.10) 10 Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers volunteers one-on-one... charities that adopt the practices most directly concerned with satisfying volunteers reap the highest rates of retention Practices that cater more to the needs of the charity than the needs of volunteers are unlikely to motivate volunteers and, in fact, are not related to retention of volunteers over time Nonetheless, these practices may be critical for the charity to oversee volunteer involvement in... welcoming to volunteers, give their volunteers an experience worth sharing, and enlist volunteers in recruiting other volunteers oneon-one However, neither volunteer management techniques nor these other steps alone will maximize retention Charities that want to retain these essential human resources should adopt relevant volunteer management practices and invest in the infrastructure, culture, and volunteer. .. in volunteer resources lack of funds for supporting volunteers –.06 time that paid staffer spends on volunteer management –.05 staff or board members indifferent toward volunteers Value that volunteers bring to charities volunteers recruit others one-on-one 11 volunteer benefits index 11 –.08 volunteers absent, unreliable, poor work quality Organizational characteristics size of charity percentage of. .. categories: management practices, investments in volunteer resources, the value that volunteers bring to charities, and various other organizational characteristics Management Practices 8 As Figure 6 shows, four of the eight management practices have an effect on volunteer retention Charities that say they have adopted to a large degree the practice of hosting recognition activities for volunteers have... claim Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers 9 Investment in Volunteer Resources 9 Charities that feel challenged by the lack of funds allocated to support volunteers have lower retention rates than charities that report fewer such challenges Surprisingly, however, retention rates do not vary according to the percentage of time a paid staff member devotes to managing the volunteer . adoption of relevant administrative practices necessary for the effective management of volunteers. ” 4 Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers The. activities .09 .06 .06 –.13 –.06 –.05 –.08 .11 .11 –.36 –.06 –.05 Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers 11 volunteers one-on-one are better able to retain volunteers. Enlisting volunteers